Youths Perceived Parental Influence on Substance Use Changes and Motivation to Seek Treatment

Abstract

Drug and alcohol use among youth has serious consequences for the physical and mental health of youth and strains their relationships with family and friends. While the task of dealing with substance-related issues often falls on families, particularly parents, very little research has explored the importance of family as a motivator for seeking treatment. This paper reports on a qualitative study of youth seeking substance abuse treatment at a large urban psychiatric hospital. Following primarily self-determination theory, the study examines youths' descriptions of how their parents motivated them to (1) change their substance use behaviors and (2) seek treatment. The sample consisted of 31 youth ages 17 to 25 engaged in outpatient services with various substance use concerns. Youth described complex and evolving relationships with their parents along their journey to enter treatment. Implications for service delivery and important insights for engaging youth and their parents are discussed.

Intrinsic Motivation and Psychological Connectedness to Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation: The Perspective of Self-Determination

“…Applying SDT to the context of drug abuse and drug relapse, it is postulated that solely providing external motivators (e.g., parental pressure) is not sufficient for one to quit drugs, because one may engage in treatment out of fear of any possible consequences, but not because of an internal sense of control and autonomy [33]. Instead, building good relationships with the drug users and offering them autonomy support/need support (e.g., respecting their choices with respect to treatment; providing a safe environment for them to practice adaptive behavior; offering them acceptance, warmth, understanding, support, and unconditional positive regard) may help facilitate their internalization and autonomous self-regulation.…”

Individual Variables Involved in Perceived Pressure for Adolescent Drinking

“…These expectations are not as high among older drinkers [50]. On the contrary, negative expectations are an intrinsic motivation for the adolescent to seek professional help when they perceive a problem of abuse with a substance such as alcohol [51]. Positive expectations of drinking increase over time in minors and are predictors of the beginning of drinking alcohol in adolescence and developing a problematic drinking pattern [12,49].…”

‘It reshaped how I will do research’: A qualitative exploration of team members’ experiences with youth and family engagement in a randomized controlled trial

“…Given that the majority of mental health and substance use problems develop before the age of 24, 12 and considering the value of service user engagement, 13,14 integrating youth perspectives is critical to improving the quality of care. Since family members can have an important role in youth's service‐seeking decisions, behaviours and outcomes, they should also be engaged in youth mental health service and research design 15 …”

“…Since family members can have an important role in youth's service-seeking decisions, behaviours and outcomes, they should also be engaged in youth mental health service and research design. 15 Recent research highlights the importance of, and ways to incorporate, youth engagement in research and service design. [16][17][18] For instance, a scoping review 16 highlights the importance of incorporating youth voices throughout service design and delivery as a core value in youth-friendly services.…”